The Art of Love and Vengeance
by angelbutterfly
Summary: Love and Hatred. The secrets that they keep, fueled by ambitions and wants. Yet they would lie, for telling the truth would destroy the fantasy world they created. But how long could they continue this denial to others, and mainly, to themselves? Full sum


Hi everyone! This is my first attempt at an Ouran Host Club fic, and since the series is still fairly new, I have somewhat of a problem grasping the characterizations of the members. But hopefully my interpretation won't be too off. XD

So how did I get into this series? Well, one of my friends forced me to watch it with him, the same person who challenged me to write this fic (it's funny though, cause I doubt he'll ever read it…he's not much of a reader).

A side note to my usual readers: I know this is side-tracking from the fic that I usually update (please don't send me death threats because of this), and I don't know what possessed me to start on a new project, but well…here it is…(and I promise I'll update the other one as soon as possible XD).

Usual disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. Enough said.

**Full Summary: **Love and Hatred. Hurting and Forgiving. The secrets that they keep, fueled by ambitions and wants. Yet they would lie, for telling the truth would destroy the fantasy world they created. But how long could they continue this denial to others, and mainly, to themselves? There's only one more semester left before Haruhi finishes her first year at Ouran High School. Haruhi contemplates her relationships with the members of the host club, and how her perceptions about them have changed, while Tamaki grapples with just where his feelings stand regarding Haruhi. The twins wonder how "desirable" their "own world" is, causing their ties to slowly loosen, something that scares yet excites them. Mori contemplates about his future as he gets ready to graduate, with Hunny looking on. Lastly, yet just as important, Kyoya must decide to what lengths he would pursue his ambitions. How much should he trust vengeance? And perhaps, forgiveness is at hand…

* * *

**Ch.1: As Time Passes By**

Haruhi Fujioka sighed as she walked through the corridors of Ouran High School, making her way towards the infamous Third Music Room. Other students passed by, some of the girls greeting her while on their way. She smiled in response, causing them to melt on the spot. Chuckling to herself, she wondered how people still didn't figure out that she was a girl. Then again, the students here were awfully dense. Not that she minded, of course. Or rather, she didn't particularly care. Her main objective here was to study, a stepping stone to becoming a lawyer just like her mother. That, and paying her debt.

Sometimes she wondered how different her life would have been if she hadn't knocked down the expensive vase. A lot quieter, that was for sure. But as it were, she had no choice but to endure the antics of the host club. It was bearable, she supposed. Although she was constantly annoyed with Tamaki smothering her, irritated with Kyoya toying with her in regards to the debt, exasperated with the Hitachiin brothers' flirtations, curious about Mori's silence, and feeling awkward about Hunny's apparent cuteness, she had gotten used to their eccentricities. In some bizarre way, they have somewhat grown on her. Not that she liked the idea, of course.

"Ouch."

Haruhi broke away from her thoughts as she bumped into someone. Here she was being clumsy again. Not exactly one of her better traits.

"I'm sorry," Haruhi apologized. She noticed that the other girl dropped a book, and proceeded to pick it up for her. She noticed the author's name, Minette Leilani, as she handed the item back. _Hm…I've never heard of her. Maybe it's one of those books that only the rich people like to read._ She didn't give it much thought though, as the girl assured her that she was fine, and went along her way.

Haruhi continued towards her destination as well, retreating back into her thoughts. How much longer would she have to do this? She would know the answer right away if she asked Kyoya, but knowing him, he would always come up with ways to add to her debt. It was best not to ask. Sometimes though, she wondered what his motive was in doing that. He didn't seem particularly fond of her (then again, he didn't really seem fond of anyone, at least in appearance). Yet, he did have a way of being kind. A weird way, but one nevertheless. Then again, it was debatable whether making her stay in the club was a "kind" act.

As if on cue, she found herself right in front of the music room. Sighing, preparing for chaos, she opened the door. They didn't disappoint.

"Haruhi!" Tamaki rushed over, grabbing her, "I was so worried…I heard that you rushed out in the middle of class…"

"Tamaki-sempai, please let go of me," Haruhi demanded, attempting to be patient.

"Did something happen during class? Were those twins trying anything perverted again? What…"

"Hey!" The twins shouted in protest.

Haruhi sighed, as she pried herself away from Tamaki. "No sempai, my contacts were irritating my eyes, so I stepped out for a moment."

"Oh I'm so glad you're okay!" Tamaki exclaimed, while spinning her around.

"Sempai, stop it. You're not helping." Haruhi remarked. Tamaki gasped, and retreated to his dark corner, murmuring about how cruel Haruhi was.

"Hahahahahaha!" The twins laughed, seeing Tamaki yet again fall for their tricks.

"I take it you two made up a ridiculous story?" Haruhi commented, rolling her eyes.

The twins shrugged, "We were bored. What better to do than to scare milord?"

Haruhi sighed once again. "Immature."

"By the way Haruhi, we were wondering…" Hikaru started to ask.

"…if you would like to be our third partner for the history project," Kaoru finished.

"But I thought I had to work on it alone because there's an odd number of students in the class…"

"And that's unfair," the twins chorused. "So we took the liberty of asking the teacher if you could work with us."

_There they go doing things their way again._ Haruhi shook her head. "Why did you bother asking me then?"

The twins shrugged. "Besides, this way the three of us could be…alone." The twins took sly glances towards the dark corner, as they stated it loud enough for a certain dejected person to hear.

On cue, Tamaki's ears perked up, and he started rushing towards them in rage. "Unhand my daughter you unruly fiends!"

"Naa, naa," the twins teased, as they ran all over the room, with Tamaki right on their heels.

"Troublesome," Haruhi remarked, as she sat down on a chair. She was going to sit there and relax until the club started, ignoring the three that were causing such a commotion.

"Haru-chan!"

Haruhi blinked, as Hunny plopped down next to her. So much for not being disturbed. "Hunny-sempai…"

"Your eyes must have hurt so much," Hunny remarked, getting teary-eyed, "so I brought my favorite strawberry cake to cheer you up!" He finished with his trademark cute smile.

"Um…thank you Hunny-sempai…" Haruhi sweat-dropped.

Her attention soon turned elsewhere however, as clients started filing into the room.

* * *

"It seems that you've received more designations than usual today," Kyoya remarked, as he browsed through his file.

"That's nice to hear," Haruhi remarked, although knowing Kyoya, he had something up his sleeves.

"But, there's the broken teacup and the crushed flowers…" Sure enough, Kyoya scratched more numbers into the calculation.

"How is that my fault? The twins knocked them over," Haruhi protested.

"They were running in that direction because of you," Kyoya raised his glasses, "so you were at least indirectly related."

Haruhi sighed, knowing that it was useless to argue. Kyoya indeed, was the shadow king. Knowing him, he probably enjoyed torturing her like this.

Her eyes scanned the room, seeing Tamaki and the twins flopped on the couches, exhausted from all that running around. Hunny was still enjoying his cakes, with Mori silently watching. _Thank goodness they're all occupied._ With that, Haruhi attempted to quietly sneak out of the room without rousing their attention, when she realized she stepped on something. Looking down, the found a book, which seemed oddly familiar. Bending down, she slowly picked it up…

* * *

Done!

Yes I know, the chapter's shorter than my usual length. But for this fanfic, I decided to keep the chapters shorter. Maybe that way I'll be able to update quicker. (Don't bet on it though…XD)

Again, thanks for reading, and I would appreciate it very much if you would review!


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